Over the course of proceedings both guards were told the coroner had received considerable evidence about the events of that day and were invited to either view critical documents or make statements about this evidence but both officers declined.
Both men repeatedly claimed legal protections against self-incrimination to avoid being made to answer questions about the restraint of Morrison, the transit in the prison van, or decisions around when to perform CPR.
When they were directed to answer, both men claimed they could not recall significant detail from that day.
The coroner also heard how in the hours after Morrison had been taken to hospital, Shillabeer had finished his shift and left the prison to travel to Port Augusta in order to watch a friend play in a football grand final.
Guard refuses to answer questions at inquest A guard who was inside a prison van before a prisoner was pulled out unresponsive has refused to answer questions at an inquest into the man’s death.
Crime by Kathryn Bermingham
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Subscriber only Corrections officers inside a prison van with a man before he was pulled out unresponsive are refusing to answer questions because they do not want to cooperate with an inquest into the man s death, a court has heard. Officers who transported Wayne Fella Morrison have been ordered to give evidence at a coronial inquest, but are allowed to claim privilege on a question-by-question basis to avoid self-incrimination.
When he was removed, Morrison was non-responsive, and he died at the Royal Adelaide hospital three days later.
Hall spent most of Friday’s morning session refusing to answer several lines of questions by claiming “penalty privilege”.
Penalty privilege is a legal protection that allows a witness at an inquest to remain silent where they may attract criminal or civil liability.
The South Australian government removed the protection in March but the change does not apply retrospectively. The Morrison inquest has been running for almost five years since his death on 26 September 2016.
The coroner on Friday afternoon allowed a line of questioning about the initial incident that sparked Morrison’s restraint, directing Hall to answer.
Corrections officers told to give evidence at inquest Corrections officers transporting Wayne Fella Morrison in a prison van when he died will give evidence – as the dead man’s family gathered in protest.
News by Jordanna Schriever
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Subscriber only Corrections officers who were in the van with Wayne Fella Morrison before he was pulled out unresponsive can make specific claims for privilege against self-incrimination or penalty on a question by question basis, a coroner has ruled. It comes as Mr Morrison s family staged a call to action seeking a ban on the use of spit hoods in South Australia and across the country.